Metz, Sub Pop’s own widely-adored and delightfully noisy three-piece punk band from Toronto (ON, Canada), have been laying waste to stages around
the globe for over 10 years. During that tumultuous chunk of time Metz,
comprised of Alex Edkins, Hayden Menzies and Chris Slorach, have
cemented their reputation as one of the planet’s most exhilarating live acts
and trusted providers of bombastic outsider rock.
Along the way, the band have earned enthusiastic support from The New
Yorker, Mojo, NPR, The New York Times, KEXP, Pitchfork, Stereogum, The
AV Club, Q, Uncut, Exclaim and a bunch of others. Referring to the trio’s
tireless tour regime and unquenchable thirst to bring their music to the
people, John Reis (Hot Snakes, RFTC, Drive Like Jehu) once said, “your
ambition is really unflattering, chill out.” They did not listen. Instead, their
love of the road and passion to create uncompromising and challenging
music remains unwavering and has only grown over time.
Their recorded output to date, a cornucopia of pop-inflected noise punk and
damaged fuzz anthems, includes three critically-acclaimed albums with Sub
Pop, as well as a plethora of limited-edition releases, collaborations, covers
and rarities. Which brings us to ‘Automat’, a collection of non-album singles,
B-sides and rarities dating back to 2009, available on LP for the first time
and including the band's long out-of-print early (pre-Sub Pop) recordings.
Included here are the band’s first three 7” singles, recorded 2009-2010 and
originally released by We Are Busy Bodies Records; a demo version of ‘Wet
Blanket’, the explosive single from 2012’s ‘Metz’; two tracks from the
limited-edition bonus single that accompanied preorders of ‘Metz’; ‘Can’t
Understand’, originally released in 2013 by [adult swim]; and both tracks
from the band’s 2015 single on Three One G.
Consumers of the vinyl formats of ‘Automat’ will be rewarded with a bonus 7” single that includes three additional tracks: a cover of Sparklehorse’s
‘Pig’, from a very limited 2012 Record Store Day split single originally
released by Toronto’s Sonic Boom record shop; ‘I’m a Bug’, a cover of The
Urinals’ art-punk classic, originally released on YouTube (not an actual
record label) in 2014; and Metz’s previously unreleased rendition of Gary
Numan’s ‘M.E.’.
All tracks on ‘Automat’ have been lovingly remastered for maximum
soundiness by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service. Metz are
currently hard at work on their fourth full-length album which will be
released on Sub Pop when they’re damn good and ready.